Commodities near their highest for a month; orange juice soars

The Standard & Poor?€™s GSCI Index of 24 commodities gained as much as 1.5 percent to 672.47, less than one point from its highest since Jan. 5, which was the most in seven weeks. It was at 668.85 as of 2.55 p.m. in London. Cocoa rose to a six-week high in London on speculation processing figures this week will signal stronger demand as dry weather may damage crops in West Africa. White sugar advanced.

?€œIn general it?€™s quite positive across the board, including precious and base metals, and crude,?€ Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB AB, said in a telephone interview from Oslo. ?€œIt?€™s not a pure commodities move as the different segments are highly correlated with equities and the weaker U.S. dollar.?€

French business confidence climbed from a two-year low last month and industrial output increased in November, indicating the threat of a recession in the euro-region?€™s second-biggest economy is easing. Consumer borrowing in the U.S. surged in November by the most in 10 years, showing households are optimistic enough to take on debt and banks are willing to lend.

Orange juice for March delivery on ICE Futures U.S. rose 20 cents, the most allowed by the exchange, to $2.0775 a pound, the highest for a most-active contract since March 1997.

Oil rose in New York for the first time in four days on growing concern that the dispute between Iran and western governments may lead to a disruption in Middle East crude exports. Crude for February delivery climbed as much as $2.10 to $103.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can?€™t get involved in a dispute between the U.S. and Iran over sanctions, according to Venezuela?€™s oil minister Rafael Ramirez. President Barack Obama is prepared to use military force to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon if sanctions and diplomacy fail, his former special assistant on Iran said.

Cash gold gained as much as 1.8 percent to $1,640.11 an ounce, the highest since Dec. 21. Copper futures for March delivery increased as much as 3 percent to $3.518 a pound on the Comex in New York.

Cocoa futures for March delivery climbed as much as 6.2 percent to $2,305 a metric ton, the highest level since Dec. 2.

Credit increased by $20.4 billion, the biggest jump since November 2001, to $2.48 trillion, U.S. Federal Reserve figures showed yesterday in Washington. The advance was almost twice as big as the highest forecast of 31 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

In China, import growth fell to a two-year low in December, underscoring a slowdown in the fastest-growing major economy that deepens risks for the global outlook. Imports rose 11.8 percent from a year before, less than all 21 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey of economists, a government report showed today in Beijing.

?€œEven though imports to and exports from China were weaker than expected, we still saw good loan growth in December,?€ SEB?€™s Schieldrop said.

China is implementing a growth strategy that includes infrastructure construction in the western and north-eastern regions, he said.

?€œThere?€™s further optimism that China will ease reserve- requirement rates further in next two weeks. The market is not putting too much weight on weaker exports but the probability that you?€™ll see further stimulus of the Chinese economy,?€ Schieldrop said.

Authors: Commodities - Yahoo! News Search Results

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